Ugly Duckling
by Iknowyoulovemexoxo
Summary: Being saddled with the work ugly duckling was not Paul's idea of a good Friday night, that was until she turned up looking more sexy swan than ugly duckling.


Happy Valentine's Day, I hope you like this one shot.

* * *

It was Friday afternoon and it was the normal early afternoon meeting to discuss the week's research and Paul was worried that his boss was going to kill him.

"Paul, how close are you to having the finished report on the over thirty drinkers?"

Fuck, the very first thing that he asked had to be to him and about the subject he was having hell finding people to interview on. "Uh . . . not very well actually. It seems like either they don't want to talk about their drinking or they are in denial so I have six of the fifteen people that I do need."

Not one to just sit back and let people take their time Vince was going to push this on him, "Looks like you will be spending your night in town trying to get people to agree then doesn't it?" Before he could argue he looked at the rest of the people in the room, "And who is going to volunteer to go with him to help as he clearly can't do it on his own?"

"I'll do it."

All eyes in the room turned to see who was crazy enough to actually offer to give up their Friday night and when a lot of them saw who it was there was a smirk on their face and mutterings of 'poor Paul' around the table.

Without acknowledging the offer he quickly moved on to the next subject.

* * *

As the meeting came to a close she approached her colleague pushing her glasses up her nose before she held her papers close to her chest again, "What time do you want to meet and where?"

"You were serious?"

". . . Yes? If you don't want me to come then say, it's fine." It wasn't fine but she wasn't about to admit that.

Not wanting to sound like an asshole he shook his head, "No it's okay, I just wasn't sure that you were serious. Shall we say about eight on the main street? That way we can catch people before they're drunk, or too drunk anyway."

"Sure, I'll see you then."

Once she had left the rest of the people in the room gathered around Paul, "You poor bastard, you are going to spend your Friday night with a spoiled Princess listening to her whine and complain about how cold it is and how much her feet hurt."

"Let's not mention that she isn't exactly something good to look at given the fact that she is regularly dressed in knee length skirts and blouses buttoned to her neck with little to no make-up worn so hopefully there are some hot girls around otherwise your night is going to suck."

They didn't even know the woman but everyone had made a snap judgement on who she was by how she looked and part of Paul felt guilty for not giving her a chance. "It might not be too bad; we don't know anything about her."

"Which is why you shouldn't have agreed to go with her, she could be crazy and we just don't know it."

Not in the mood to listen to the conspiracy theories he picked up his papers and walked out of the room.

* * *

Eight o'clock came and went and still there was no sign of her, for somebody who had volunteered to do this she sure as hell was terrible at keeping her promises. He was just about to give up on her when he felt a tap on the shoulder, spinning around he was surprised to see her stood in front of him, looking completely different to what he was used to seeing. Instead of a long skirt and a high top she had on a tight black dress that came to mid-thigh if you were lucky and there were no glasses covering her face but he wasn't complaining as she looked good.

The way his eyes bugged out of his head and his mouth opened and closed a few times with no words coming out made her incredibly nervous. "Sorry I'm late, my Uber driver got lost."

That comment broke the ice and gave him back his voice, "How?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. It is pretty much a straight road from my apartment to here and he managed to get lost so whereas I was meant to be here about five to ten minutes before eight I am now ten minutes late." Wringing her hands together in front of her she had barely said two words to this man before tonight so spending a few hours with him was terrifying.

"I hope you didn't give him a tip because that is a special brand of awful driving." Trying so hard to keep his eyes on her face he failed miserably and his gaze swept down her body taking another moment to admire her body in the dress she was wearing, "You're in flats?"

Did she look crazy? She was not going to spend who knows how long stood on her feet in high heels for nobody. "Of course I am, unless you're planning on wearing high heels I sure as hell am not. As for the Uber driver I actually did give him a tip, to buy a Sat Nav. So what is the plan to get people to sign up to do this research?"

He didn't have a plan as he hadn't expected to have so much trouble getting people to sign up. "I'm not sure, I was thinking of just walking down to where the clubs are and just asking people whilst they wait in line to get in or something."

That was one option that might not get them anywhere. "Or we could go in to a wine bar rather than a club and discreetly approach people so that we aren't kicked out. I know a wine bar is fancier but we want the older clientele anyway so they may go for that over a club."

"I'm up for that. I assume you have places in mind so lead the way."

* * *

The walk to the wine bar was quiet and awkward, he didn't know what to say to her and she just felt awkward around him.

Stepping inside Paul motioned towards the bar, "What can I get you."

"You don't need to buy me a drink, I can buy my own."

A little taken aback by the determination he faltered slightly, "I . . . uh, I wasn't suggesting that you couldn't, I was just trying to be friendly."

Maybe she was being a little harsh, "A white wine would be nice please, any kind is fine with me. I'll find us somewhere to sit."

He watched her walk away for a few reasons including being taken aback by her sudden change of attitude towards the drink but mainly because she looked damn good when she was walking away. Quickly turning back to the bar before she caught him he ordered them both a drink and then carried them over to the couch placing them on the table in front of it, "One white wine. So what is your bright idea for getting people to sign up?"

"Thank you." Picking up her glass she took a small sip before she placed it back on the table and sat back, "Let them have a drink and watch them to see who looks like they drink and would be open to being honest about how much they do drink."

"And what do we do in the meantime whilst we wait?"

"We talk?" She looked at him like he was crazy as she thought that was obvious, "I can always go and sit somewhere else if you would prefer not to talk to me." Stephanie wasn't stupid; she had heard the whispers around the office and seen the way that people were looking at her like she was from outer space. "You know I know what everybody thinks of me. You all think I'm stupid but I've heard the whispers simply because I wear glasses and my skirts are longer than my ass."

"I don't think that you are stupid and I never suggested that you didn't know what was going on in the office. You know what office gossip is like though, everybody likes to be talking about somebody and you're the new girl and nobody knows you so they talk about you as it is easy." This wasn't exactly how he imagined his evening going, he would have preferred to sit here and stare at her than talk about office gossip.

He was so easy to fluster and she wasn't really trying. "Fine, you don't know anything about me so ask me questions whilst we sit here and wait."

Was he brave enough to actually ask questions that were interesting? Yeah, probably not but he could find out something about her at least, "I'll ask questions and you can ask questions of me. So how old are you?"

The first glass of wine the questions were polite and didn't pry at all, the second glass of wine and things got a little more personal, by the third glass of wine their barriers were broken down and things were starting to get even more personal and a little heated between the two of them.

"So how come you dress like you do in the office and you look this hot outside of work?" Motioning to her body he didn't hide the fact that he was taking another opportunity to stare at her body.

Two could play this game and she took the opportunity to let her eyes sweep his body and took an extra long moment staring at his chest and admiring the way his arms bulged in his shirt, "Why not? Work life is work life; I'm not there for the men to stare at me. If everyone expects me to dress sexily why don't the men have to do the same?"

"Because we aren't as hot as you are."

Gulping she anxiously rubbed her hands on her skirt, "I need to use the bathroom, I'll be back now." Without waiting for a response she got up to use the bathroom feeling uncomfortable that he called her hot.

As she washed her hands she smiled at another woman who joined her at the sinks, "You make a cute couple with your boyfriend. It is refreshing seeing a youngish couple sat down and talking rather than all over each other."

"Oh we're not a couple, we're just work colleagues. We're supposed to be signing up over thirties drinkers for some market research but we've got a little distracted and haven't signed up as many as we could or should have. Sorry, I'm a little buzzed and talk a lot when I have had a drink." Stephanie stepped away from the sink to dry her hands.

"I don't know what exactly your market research is for but my friends and I might be able to do it for you. How many people do you need?"

Good question, she wasn't sure. "I don't know off the top of my head, I'll have to ask Paul."

"That's not a problem. Ask your colleague and come by our table." Her preference was using paper towels to dry her hands over the air dryer so that was what she did, "I'll see you in a minute."

"Thanks." Normally she didn't spend this much time in the bathroom but normally she wasn't on a working evening with a colleague and thinking of nothing but getting him in to bed. She couldn't stay in the bathroom all night though so reluctantly left to go back to the table, "How many more people do we need to sign up?"

"Six, why?"

"Because I was talking to somebody who said they may be interested and they might be able to get their friends involved too."

"You know that people can't know each other though." He wanted this over with but he also didn't want the night to end as he was enjoying himself spending time with her.

"Then we'll get them to pretend that they don't know each other. Do you want this over with or not?"

With a heavy sigh he reluctantly passed the folder to her, "Okay okay." He didn't take his eyes off her as she walked over to a table with her back to him and bent over slightly causing a sharp intake of breath from him, he had never looked at her like this before but now he had he couldn't stop imagining how she would look naked and seeing her bent over like that he wanted to see her naked and bent over like that in front of him. Shaking his head he leaned forward and grabbed his glass downing what was left in one go, maybe more alcohol was the secret to not acting like a jerk but it may also make him act like more of one. Getting up from his seat he went to get them both another glass of wine, he wasn't a wine drinker though so maybe he could blame the wine on his thoughts and behaviour.

When she returned to their couch she found that Paul was no longer there but one look at the bar and she knew exactly where he was so she took a seat to wait for him.

Returning with two glasses of wine he placed one in front of her before he sat down next to her a little closer than he had been before, "So how did it go?"

"We have all that we need and a name or two extra in case when you look at it on Monday there is anybody who is not suitable."

"Thank you, you are a star." Reaching across he placed his hand by her knee on her thigh and squeezed it gently, "I don't think that I could have done this without you."

The feel of his hand on his bare thigh sent a shiver up her spine, she shouldn't go there should she?

When she didn't flinch or brush his hand off he took it as encouragement and rubbed his hand a little higher brushing the bottom of her skirt to see what reaction he would get from that.

She had always thought that he was cute but she knew that he didn't look at her like that, until now, but now she was wondering if she should go there or not. Uncrossing her legs she turned in the seat to better look at him, "Do you know what you are doing?"

"Mmhmm." Moving his hand from her thigh to her chin he gripped it gently so that she stayed facing him and leaned forward pressing his lips against hers in a gentle kiss.

As soon as he kissed her she felt her body melting, she wanted things to remain professional but maybe it was the three glasses of wine that she had drank that was lowering her inhibitions and making her not think straight because she found herself returning his kiss.

The last thing Paul expected was to feel her deepening the kiss but much to his surprise she tilted her head ever so slightly and licked his lips and he was like putty in her hands. His awareness of where they were had disappeared and he was just enjoying kissing her.

When they separated due to lack of air the reality of what had just happened hit her like a bus and her face instantly grew a deep red colour, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" If she was sorry for stopping it then he was going to set her right as he was the one who had pushed his luck by kissing her and as a result if she didn't want it then it was on him to apologise.

"For . . . I don't know, I have so many thoughts in my head right now that I felt like I should apologise." She hadn't had many one night stands and it felt like this was going in that direction but there were so many reasons why they couldn't and shouldn't go there, especially because they worked together but she liked him and it felt like they could have more than a one night stand but she didn't know how he felt about her or that.

She was so cute and if any of the other guys saw her dressed up like this they would be all over her too but he found himself wanting to keep her all for himself. "Don't apologise, I should be apologising for forcing that kiss on you when you have shown no interest in me."

Fuck the fact that they worked together, she hadn't been made to feel that good from just a kiss in a long time so maybe he was worth the risk and things wouldn't go quite as she pictured them. However when he spoke the only words her brain latched on to were the apology, "Oh, okay. I guess I read the signals wrong then, thank goodness I hadn't already offered for you to come back to mine."

"You wanted me to come back to yours? Why?" He really wanted to go back to hers if only for some more kissing because he was really enjoying that.

Biting down on her lip looking down at his hand back on her leg before she looked up at him, "I'm going to head home. I'm glad that we managed to sign up all of those people so you won't get in trouble now."

As she get up to leave he was left sat there dumbfounded. Was he jumping to conclusions and that look that she just gave him wasn't seductive? Had he actually upset her and she was basically running away from him? Quickly downing the rest of his wine he got up and raced out of the bar to see if he could catch her before she left.

* * *

Her focus was on her phone as she ordered an Uber and prayed that it would be somebody who knew where the hell they were going. When she felt a hand slide around her waist and a pair of lips against her neck she smiled, "You decided to come back to mine then did you?"

"I did, thank you for the offer."

Safely placing her phone in her purse she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck loosely, "And what exactly in your eyes was my offer?"

He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her impossibly closer to him, "You, me and somewhere more private for me to do this." With that said he closed the gap between their faces and pressed a passionate kiss to her lips.

Moaning in surprise against his lips her nails scratched his scalp as she unintentionally dug them in to his skin.

Not caring that they were in the street he let his hands slide around her body until they were on her ass eliciting another moan from her as he squeezed it gently.

The ringing of her phone in her purse caused her to pull back from the kiss to answer it, after a brief moment of searching in her purse she pulled it out and answered it just before they hung up, "Hello?" Ending the call after a brief conversation she turned around in his arms looking for something before she pointed down the road a little way, "My car is here, thank you for a fun evening."

When she went to walk away from him he grabbed her hand, "Hold up, I thought that I was coming back to yours?"

Giggling softly she slid her fingers through his and held on tightly tugging on his arm as she began walking, "I was just seeing which head you were thinking with."

"Trust me, I am thinking with my other head which is why I am so glad that your place is so close." Following behind her to the car he clambered in beside her choosing to sit close to her rather than leaving a sort of gap between them.

She felt his body close to hers and she thought nothing of it but her breathing hitched as she gave the driver instructions so that he didn't get lost this time when she felt Paul's hand on the inside of her thigh but she tried not to draw attention to its placement as she finished giving her instructions. Once the driver pulled off from the side of the road she turned to glare at her companion, "What are you . . ." Squeaking in to his mouth the kiss she recieved that interrupted her question took her by surprise but she wasn't about to push him away.

* * *

Most of the short ride back to her apartment was spent with them kissing which was much to the dismay of the driver but when they reached hers Paul gave him an added little tip and that seemed to satisfy him.

As they walked the short distance from the front door of the apartments to her actual apartment door Stephanie couldn't help but worry that she would end up getting her heart broken at the end of this but the feel of his lips on her neck as she tried to open the door had her pushing those fears to the back of her mind.

Paul really didn't care what her apartment looked like and he didn't care for small talk either so when they were in the safety of her apartment with the door shut behind them he leant back against it and stared at her body as she turned around to face him, "I'm not saying that I only came here for one thing but I really want to get you out of that dress and to fuck you."

Tossing her bag in to the lounge somewhere she bit down on her lip nervously, "I want this as much as you do but I just need to know if this is a one night only thing or if there is a chance to build on this."

He admired her for asking the question before they took the step as it was clearly bothering her. "If everything goes well tomorrow when we are sober then I would actually like to build on it if you do."

That was the answer she wanted so she reached behind her back and pulled the zipper to her dress down pulling the straps down her arms letting the dress pool at her feet, "I'm really sorry, it is so warm in here."

Shrugging off his jacket he dropped it to the floor beside him before he pulled off his shirt holding it in his hands, "I know what you mean, it is so hot tonight. Got anywhere we can cool down?"

He wasn't looking at her face, he was staring at her body but she had no complaints about it as it made her feel beautiful. Beckoning him over with her finger she smiled seductively, "I have just the place, follow me."

And follow her he did leading to them both getting exactly what they were after that night before they collapsed in to an exhausted heap all tangled in the sheets.

* * *

The next morning Paul woke up early needing to use the bathroom so carefully disentangling himself from her body and the sheets he climbed out of bed to go and search for it. Leaving the bedroom he turned left spotting a door almost directly opposite so tried that room first but as soon as he entered the room he realised it was the lounge and not the bathroom. He was about to leave the room when he spotted a picture on the side which caught his attention, as he really didn't know all that much about her he decided to check it out.

Picking up the photograph in the dim light of the room he couldn't help but smile at the cute smile on her face in what was obviously some form of family photograph, he didn't know anything about her family but she was obviously sat next to her brother as it couldn't be an old or current boyfriend as they looked similar. His eyes were then drawn to the faces of the hand that was on her shoulder and he gasped, he knew that face, that was the face of the man who signed his cheques at the end of each month. Hastily replacing the photograph on the top his need for the bathroom disappeared and was replaced by one to get out of there fast because he was sure that sleeping with the boss' daughter was not good for his career.

Tip-toeing back to the bedroom he started searching for his clothes as quietly as possible so that he didn't wake her and experience the most awkward morning after the night before.

He had managed to get dressed without making a sound and had his shoes in his hands ready to leave when she moved in the bed, panicking he quickly turned to get out of there before she woke up but in his haste to leave he smacked his leg on the dresser causing something to fall over with a bang as he suppressed a mountain of swear words at the pain.

* * *

Stephanie was in that awkward not quite awake but not fully asleep stage but she felt like it was early and didn't want to be awake so she rolled over to go back to sleep when there was a bang startling her awake. Sitting up with a start she looked around searching for the source of the noise when her eyes settled on Paul and her face broke out in a smile but the smile quickly disappeared when she realised that he was fully dressed and had his shoes in his hand clearly trying to leave without waking her. "You're leaving? Was it that bad for you?"

Fuck, she had woken up. Slowly turning around he gulped and tried not to look at her clutching the sheet to her chest, "Umm yeah, I remembered that I had somewhere to be."

She didn't believe him; he was so full of shit and couldn't even come up with a decent lie, "It's fine, whatever." Sliding down in bed she rolled over so that her back was to him so that he couldn't see how much his actions actually hurt her.

"It isn't anything personal Steph, it's just I don't want to date the bo . . ." Stopping himself mid-sentence he had effectively been snooping and things were bad enough without admitting that.

Now it all made sense to her, it was why she dressed like she did at work because she didn't want to deal with the rejection of people not wanting to deal with the boss' daughter. "It's fine, whatever, I've been here before where people have found out who my Dad is and walked away so I'm numb to it. I won't tell anybody, at work especially, what happened so your sordid little secret is safe."

So she knew what he was saying and why he was walking out and was being far too nice about it, "It isn't that I'm ashamed of this but when your Dad is the boss I'm sure he would frown on it and . . ."

"Yeah I get it, everybody would gossip about you and you don't want it. It's fine Paul, really it is, just leave."

And that is what he did, he walk out of the room and leant against the doorframe to put on his shoes before he opened the front door to leave, he was just about to walk out of the door when her words came back to haunt him. His parents had brought him up to be a good person and they had drilled in to him that he should always treat women respectfully and to follow his heart but he wasn't, he really liked this woman and he was running away because he was terrified of what other people might think. Having a change of heart he shut the door again.

* * *

Keeping her emotions in check she waited until she heart the front door shut behind him before she let her emotions out and a few tears ran down her cheek and fell to the pillow beneath her head, she thought that he was different which was why she had given him a chance but clearly she knew nothing.

Quietly kicking off his shoes he climbed back on to the bed behind her watching her body jump at the shock as she thought that he had left. Paul shuffled a little closer and draped his arm around her waist pulling her back so that his chest was tight to his back, "I didn't mean to scare you." Pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder he hoped that she could forgive him for being a jerk.

What was he doing here? He was meant to have left because she was the boss' daughter. "The door is in the other direction."

"I deserved that. Can't you at least turn over to look at me when I apologise for being a dick?"

With a heavy sigh despite the closeness of their bodies she rolled over roughly wiping at her cheek as she did, "What?"

Tenderly wiping away the lingering wetness on her cheek he felt even worse now having made her cry. "I am sorry for trying to run out on you, especially when you were still asleep. I saw that your Dad was Vince McMahon and I freaked out, I mean your surname isn't McMahon and it was a shock but that is no excuse."

"I use Edwards because I don't want people being my friend because they think that it will get them a promotion."

"I don't want a promotion, that isn't why I have come back."

Laughing at his comment she shouldn't find it funny but his first though being the promotion amused her. "Don't worry, you wouldn't be getting one anyway, even if I did have the sway with my Dad, which for the record I don't. Why did you come back? You seemed pretty happy to leave before I woke up."

Gently playing with her hair stroking it back out of her face, tucking it behind her shoulder and twirling random strands around his finger he didn't even know why he came back, not to the point where he could explain it coherently.

"So you did come back for me to do something for you at work." Silence normally meant that people were trying to think of a lie.

"No! Seriously Stephanie I didn't. The thing is that I don't know why I came back, well how to explain it anyway. I went to walk out of the door and leave but I couldn't walk out on the best thing that has happened to me. I was shocked to find out that Vince was your Dad but I guess the shock is wearing off and all I really care about now is being with you and exploring this, if you still want to."

He was going to walk out without saying anything just by finding out who her Dad was, did she want to take this risk and give him a shot? "One chance, you walk out like that again and I'm done."

"Thank you." Leaning down he kissed her softly before he straightened his back again, "So what would you like to do today?"

"Nothing special, just get to know each other better maybe?"

"Sounds like a plan to me beautiful." He was surprised that she had given him another chance but he was glad that she had because he wanted to get to know her even better.

Moving closer to him she buried her head in to his chest, her Dad always told her never to mix business and pleasure but she hadn't listened to his dating advice when she was a teenager and she wasn't about to start now, not when her heart told her that they had something special.


End file.
